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Friday, October 3, 2014

The Hazzards of Saturday Morning

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN:Told you! This week on Jungle Red is about time
and place. And what better place than
smack dab in front of the TV? I burst out laughing when I got Lori’s blog…remembering
myself in my little pajamas with lavender flowers, watching, ah, Winky Dink?

And now, Lori Rader-Day tells us, that’s…all over? And that how we viewed
something back in the day—may not be the way we see it now. So does that mean—don’t
even try?

When Hank brought up the diminishing market for breakfast
cereal this week, I thought, Way to go, paleos. Cavemen totally would have
eaten Cap’n Crunch, if they could have. But as my husband pointed out to me, it
might not be fad eating alone to blame. Remember eating your Froot Loops in
your pajamas in front of the TV Saturday morning? Well, no longer. This week
marks the end of Saturday morning cartoons.Period. Last week, the CW Network’s
only remaining block of Saturday morning animated programming came to an end.

A moment of silence, please.

If you loved Bugs
Bunny, Scooby Doo, Schoolhouse Rock, Life with Louie (unappreciated in its time), Underdog and the 1980s power hour of Kidd Video and Dungeons and
Dragons as much as I did growing up, this is where your heart breaks into
tiny, froot-colored pieces.

This doesn’t mean that there aren’t cartoons out there, of
course. The Simpsons are still leading
Sunday nights, and there are, I hear, entire around-the-clock channels where
the kids of today can be introduced to all manner of cartoon characters. If my
six-year-old nieces are a good test market, it won’t be long before Disney
figures out how to get Frozen
directly downloaded into kids’ brains.

Did you notice how easily I slipped into curmudgeon mode? It’s
what we do, when we start reminiscing about the good ol’ days. We forget that
the good ol’ days weren’t always so good, that all cartoons weren’t good.
Nostalgia is fine in its place, but if I’m going to start getting squishy over Kidd Video, it’s time for a little harsh
truth.

Kidd Video—and
many of the cartoons I loved—weren’t that great.

The only place they are great is in my memory, in my
imagination, within the particular place of my family and my home, the life I
lived, and the time I lived in. It was great then. Now? When a favorite show has been dead for thirty years,
it’s best not to pull out the corpse and take a look.

You do, though. At my cousin’s house one day a few years
ago, I noticed that he had acquired a DVD set of the hit 1980s television
series The Dukes of Hazzard. His wife
had gotten them for him as a gift, because he loved it as a kid.

So did I. By the age eight, I was a goner for Bo Duke and
that show. Fast forward to the discovery of those DVDs, though, and even I knew
there was no going back to Hazzard for this cowgirl. Not only would watching
the show point out its (presumably awful) flaws, but the act of revisiting the
past would somehow ruin it for all time. Watching them now would reach back and
ruin them then. Do you want to revisit the Duke boys, or do you want them to
remain pleasantly in your childhood? You can’t have both.

Today my sister and I use this as our litmus test for things
that can survive our nostalgia. Is this cookie recipe our grandma used to make for
us going to be as good as we remembered, or will it be Dukes of Hazzard? Should we get the nieces to watch Annie, with Albert Finney as Daddy
Warbucks, or will it be Dukes of Hazzard?

Too many beloved things dragged from history and shoved into
the bright light of modern day are Dukes
of Hazzard.

Today’s kids don’t miss Bugs Bunny, and that’s a shame—he’s
still hilarious. My nieces are big fans of Chip and Dale, though, so there’s
hope. But no matter what they watch, it’s fine. They’ll have their own
childhood treasures, and some of them will be pretty good. Many, though, will
be ruined by time and by becoming a discerning grown-up. Just like a big bowl
of Cap’n Crunch—maybe some things are sweetest left in your past.

HANK: I have never seen Dukes of Hazzard. Never. Not one Duke.
Bugs, however, my absolute fave. Bullwinkle. Underdog. Beany and Cecil!But I do think you are so right. My grandsons watch and adore a tv show called—ah,
it’s called…the Wild somethings, about two guys who hike and talk about
wildlife. It beings with a K. Or a C. I have tried to watch it, and it is
beyond me. Kratts?

So yeah, the sweetness of memory is a fascinating idea. You can’t
go home again, isn’t that what they say?

Reds, did you watch Saturday cartoons? Not that you would now…but
did you? (And it didn’t seem to ruin us,
did it? Joining the curmudgeon chorus.) What was your fave?

And the fabulous Lori will send a copy of THE BLACK HOUR to
one (very!) lucky commenter!

***************

Lori Rader-Day’s debut mystery, The Black Hour (Seventh Street Books, 2014), received starred
reviews from Publishers Weekly, Booklist, and Library Journal. Her short stories have appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Time Out Chicago, Good Housekeeping, and others. Her next book, the mystery Little Pretty Things, is out in 2015.
She lives in Chicago.

57 comments:

I'm not entirely certain that you can't go home again when it comes to enjoying some of those television shows of the past . . . . We sometimes abandon the current offerings in favor of watching Memorable Entertainment Television, a channel entirely devoted to nostalgic television shows. Superman takes me right back to my childhood; despite the lack of marvelous special effects, I get just as much of a kick out of it now as I did then.

Some of my fondest growing up television memories: my mom getting us up to watch Ding Dong School . . . Rocky Jones, Space Ranger coming on right after my mom's afternoon soap opera. Ah, the memories.

My younger sister loved [and still loves] Top Cat. My children watched Voltron and Care Bears, My Little Pony and Thundercats. It's tough to pick just one but Felix the Cat was one of our favorite growing-up cartoons . . . .

I credit Loony Tunes with instilling an early appreciation of classical music. In fact, many years ago I purchased a CD called Bugs on Broadway, with soundtracks of many famous episodes (Kill the Wabbit, anyone?). Scooby Doo was another favorite, and I remember sitting on the floor in front of my dad, both of us laughing hysterically over Sylvester and Tweety. Was Pepe LePew a Loony Tunes character? Hanna Barbera had some good ones - Yogi and BooBoo, and was Ricochet Rabbit one of theirs?

Loved, loved, loved the Wonder Twins [if you're a twin, you understand that] . . . . yes to all the others. Magilla Gorilla was part of the huge Hanna-Barbera cartoon world that included Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound and the Smurfs. Like several cartoons [The Flintstones and Top Cat come immediately to mind], The Jetsons began life as a weekly evening show . . . .

I have to say, I did love that Dungeons and Dragons cartoon. Never played the game, but there was something about the storytelling in that cartoon.

That said, I would be afraid to watch it now, as I am sure it would be completely lame.

Similar things happen with books - not all books, but especially books from childhood. I re-read Flowers in the Attic last year to prepare for the tv movie. It was never a great piece of literature, but I loved it. The re-read was fine, but it didn't have that same magic from back then.

Last one, I promise, but did anyone else memorize the Preamble to the Constitution while watching Schoolhouse Rocks? Hey hey hey with Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids? And do you remember a short animated Saturday morning commercial about healthy snacking - "I hanker for a hunk of, a slab a slice a chunk of, I hanker for a hunk of cheese?"

Hank, could it be Kratt's Kritters, (or something like that) that the grandkids watch? I've seen it at a relative's house. I did enjoy it, too! My sister the teacher loves to recommend it.

Ding Dong School (was that the one with Miss Frances, or was she on a different program), Captain Kangaroo, the Mickey Mouse Club (the original one!) are some of the things we watched. I didn't especially care for Romper ROom, which I'd watch if I was home sick. Then there were some programs that were just shown in the NY/NJ/CT area that we enjoyed but I don't remember the names.

I do remember Winky Dink, Sonny Fox, Sandy Becker... Personally, I did not like some of the Saturday AM programs that my younger siblings loved. (I thought I was too old for them!)

I'm just typing away as the titles come to me now: Road Runner, which I thought was just "okay" until I found out that a boy I liked loved it; and the Boris and Natasha cartoon characters...and now I'm picturing some cartoons and other kids programs from the fifties but can't remember the names. Let me go get some coffee...

Did you know that either Top Cat or the Flintstones--which came out very close to one another--was the first "adult" evening cartoon? It was a big deal. Yabba, dabba, doooo!

Beany & Cecil! So fun. Sherman and Mr. Peabody, which was one of the many parts that made up the Rocky & Bullwinkle show, including Fractured Fairy Tales. There was also Boris & Natasha, and Dudley DoRight, the inept Canadian Mountie.

Sherman & Mr. Peabody was made into a big-screen movie last year; I took my grandson to see it. I loved it! Having grandkids is the best, especially when it comes to having a legitimate reason to go see kids' movies. :-)

Isn't it Wild Kratts, Deb? Such a good show. At least PBS Kids still has cartoons on Saturday mornings.

I adored Looney Tunes. Got a Golden Edition DVD box set from my brother-in-law years ago and my son devoured them. Bugs, Daffy, and the gang never get old. Watched Voltron and Transformers (I still maintain the lion version of Voltron was better than the cars). Scooby-doo was okay, but not my favorite.

Yes, I watched Schoolhouse Rock. That is how I memorized the preamble to the Constitution and, for years, I could only recite it if I sang. And the Bill on Capitol Hill, the great American Melting Pot - someone stop me, I'm singing. I had a 30th anniversary edition DVD set of those and it's missing, which makes me VERY unhappy.

I absolutely do not get cartoons these days. But yes, I watched the original Superman (with Christopher Reeve) with my son and, well, blah. Some things hold up, but others, well, not so much.

I have a cultural and an age divide: I spent my Saturday mornings in Saturday School from the time I was eight until I was confirmed at 15 (girls of my generation didn't have bat mitzvahs).

I LOVED cartoons when we got to see them at the movies (which we went to for the air conditioning in summer). But because Friday night was the Sabbath eve (with a family dinner), I didn't hang out that night at the local movie palace. And none of us went to Saturday matinees, because that was when we had various lessons (piano, swimming, ballet, etc.)

Isn't all that stuff on cable now? All the time? In the Eighties, we had cable at the cottages (because otherwise there was no reception at all), and I came downstairs one morning to discover my two-and-a-half year old nephew had pulled out a big rattan chair and was sitting in it, happily eating chips and watching cartoons.

I did watch television after school, and was particularly addicted to the Mickey Mouse Club, Superman (not a cartoon, but my first crush), and occasionally Mighty Mouse, which was a favorite. But I only saw Mighty Mouse on rare occasions. Still, "On the sea or on the land, he has the situation well in hand."

Joan Emerson, do you know how rare it is to find anyone who has even heard of Rocky Jones, Space Ranger? I loved that show and, oddly, it holds up on DVD. Oh, the space travel and science are hokey, as are the special effects, and the stories are weak, but I still found the episodes fun to watch. As for cartoons, I was a card holding member of the Mighty Mouse fan club. Then again, I always was kind of a weird kid.

I remember my kids in their pjs sitting in ,front of the TV with cereal bowls on Saturday mornings...Speedracer, Kimba and who were those people in bee costumes? They were all so innocent and simple, when you compare them to the violent video games kids now play.

Kathy, we loved Rocky Jones. We weren't allowed to eat in the living room, but I have fond memories of my mom bringing each of us an iced tea spoon of chocolate cake frosting while we were watching the show . . . .

I know I'm dating myself,but I loved Crusader Rabbit. And me too, James, on Rocky and Bullwinkle... my favorite part was Boris and Natasha whom I managed to put in that short story that I finally finished (YAY!)

Oh yes, Bullwinkle. Underdog. Beany and Cecil. And Fraser Thomas and Garfield Goose introducing cartoons, Clutch Cargo with Spinner and Paddlefoot (with the creepy mouths that were early TV magic and looked like real mouths moving). And of course the entire ensemble of Huckleberry Hound, Quick Draw McGraw & Babalooey, Magilla Gorilla, The Flintstones. (I watched a lot of TV). I remember being about 9 and watching those shows that were on about 6:30 in the evening while ironing pillowcases, my little brothers' t-shirts and my grandfather's really long jeans. Ironing, something I don't do much of either these days.

When something is especially tasty my husband or I will just jump into that little bit - I think from Quick Draw - where the dog gets the delicious biscuit, wraps his arms around himself, hugs himself while saying "Aaaahhhh" and then floats up into the air and back down. Never fails to get that you're weird look from kids, grandkids, and now great-grandkids. And we can't even do the floating part!

Oh, Saturday cartoons were such a great part of my childhood. Karen, you hit on some of my favorites with Rocky and Bullwinkle. Sherman and Mr. Peabody was so great. I recently bought a DVD of the old Sherman and Mr Peabody, and it was actually a fun trip down memory lane. Rocky, Bullwinkle, Boris, Natasha, and Dudley DoRight were all so wonderful, and Fractured Fairytales were a hoot.

Other cartoons I remember loving were the Jetsons, the Flintstones, Yogi Bear, Bugs Bunny, Quick Draw McGraw, Huckleberry Hound, Underdog, Mighty Mouse (here I come to save the day), Casper, Foghorn Leghorn, Road Runner, and others. Also great were Sky King, the Mickey Mouse Club, Lone Ranger, and Lassie. In the afternoon, one of my all-time favorites, Popeye, was on, and my mother always told me that the time of my birth coincided with the time Popeye started on TV. For some reason, I found that an amazing fact. And, Scooby Doo came along later.

Lori, I love the litmus test of the Dukes of Hazard. Hahaha! Thanks for taking me on a lovely trip down memory lane today. Oh, and I just checked out The Black Hour from the library. I really meant to read it before now. I've heard such good things about the book.

Thank you Deb Romano for mentioning Sonny Fox. I used to get up at an ungodly hour on Sunday morning and squirm through the agricultural shows on WPIX (e.g., potato farming on Long Island) until Wonderama came on. My favorite cartoons from that era were Crusader Rabbit, Fractured Fairy Tales and Boris and Natasha.

Not cartoons, obviously, but I also loved Diver Dan, Shari Lewis, the Mickey Mouse Club and the Walt Disney Show, where you could watch Spin & Marty, Davy Crockett, The Prince and the Pauper, and all those movies with Hayley Mills in them. The Nine Lives of Thomasina is still one of my favorite Disney films and it's aged very well.

Oh, gee, so many of you have refreshed my memory of programs I watched, both cartoons and regular programming for kids!

Nope, Hank, Saturday TV programming didn't harm us - although now that I think of it, I probably took some risks with my bicycle riding because I wanted to try out feats I saw on TV! And we still went outside to play every chance we had. (Although one of my sisters will tell you that I always told her "I'll catch up with you after I finish reading this chapter". I vacationed with her family in August, and she said "well, I see nothing has changed, Deb.")

Kaye said "And I know I wasn't the only one here to used their crayons on a TB screen without putting the plastic screen on it first. Right?!" Kaye, I will never own up to it:-)

I think cartoons give us important cultural references. Years ago I really wanted a Burberry raincoat but they were kind of pricy and with kids there's always something better to do with your money. BUT we were in Scotland and the St. Andrews Woolen Mill had last year's burberry coat (which looked exactly like this year's burberry coat to me) on half price sale. YES - i could do this. I couldn't want for the first chilly rainy day when we got home. I put on the coat and buttoned all the buttons and snapped all the snaps and turned to my son and said "what do you think? He said - It's great Mom - you look just like Secret Squirrel.

My friend Stephen and I had a Saturday morning cartoon contest. We'd get up early to watch as many as we could. When they were over and the old movies and sports would start we would meet outside to brag about how many cartoons we got to watch. Stephen and I usually tied at 9 or 10. Once he said he saw 12. I was a little suspicious.

Just checked in and wow, what a great conversation! About Saturday morning cartoons! Thanks, everyone, for your comments, and I would love nothing more than for "Is it the Dukes of Hazzard?" to become some sort of litmus test for all to enjoy.

Saturday was Soupy Sales! My mom hated it and I had great fun getting all if the younger kids together to watch it. I was just old enough to know it would make her mad and old enough to get his joking asides to the crew.

I have 2 memories as a small child. We had the first TV in our neighborhood and I remember sitting in a highchair looking over the heads of all the kids from the neighborhood who would come into our house to watch Howdy Doody and Buffalo Bob. It had a 7" screen. When I was 4 we got a 21" TV and I got my first magic screen for Winky Dink. As I said earlier I think I liked the show because it was the first time I had power over anything!

Oh yes. Josie and the Pussycats, Scooby Doo, HR Puffinstuff, Underdog. For some reason I never really cared for the Flintstones or Rocky & Bullwinkle. Bugs is in a class by himself.

And it wasn't Saturday without Schoolhouse Rock every hour -- Verb! That's what's happenin'... Lolly lolly lolly get your Adverbs here... So I unpacked my adjectives...Three is the magic number... Mother Necessity where would we be.... Darn! That's the end.

I also seem to remember watching Wild Wild West on Saturdays. Mmmm, Robert Conrad in that tight blue suit.

Hank, the Wonder Twins were brother and sister aliens with special powers. They press their fists to each other (the first fist bump?) and say "Wonder Twin powers activate!" Jayna would say "Form of... a (some kind of animal)" and Zan would say "Shape of a (some kind of water - ice in a specific shape, steam, etc.)" and they'd transform. They had a pet monkey, Gleek.

My favorite Schoolhouse Rock is (still) the pronouns one with Rufus Xavier Sarsaparilla. Did you guys see the Schoolhouse Rock special on TV a couple of weeks ago? They counted down the favorites of all time. Guess what won? Conjunction Junction for the win!

Davy & Goliath (the same person who voiced "Davy" also did "Casper," and the animator for Casper, though he graduated Page HS some 4 decades ahead of me, drew my HS's Sand Devil mascot! (I only know this b/c I read Confessions Of A Prairie B*tch, and Alison Arngrim (Nellie Oleson) mentioned it.

Gumby

Mr. Magoo

HarveyToons

Felix the Cat

Mighty Mouse

Heckle & Jeckyl

I loved al those cartoons and the ones mentioned (sans Scooby-Doo; just couldn't get into that.) But Looney Tunes are awesome, will always BE awesome, and still make me laugh to this day. Same goes for Rocky & Bullwinkle, and a few later 'toons: Animaniacs and today's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. My 17 yo son tuned me into those; the writing isn't half bad for a kids' show. There's one more you folks also forgot: The Flinstones! C;mon, there was some great writing there before the show ran out of steam (and jumped the shark adding in "The Great Kazoo," but Harvey Korman was fantastic in his day, too).

Looney Tunes started the whole adults will watch this trend but has to remain kid-friendly. Then again, before Looney Tunes did it, didn't Maurice Sendak and Dr. Seuss begin a trend? Before them, Roald Dahl, E.M. Barre (Peter Pan) and L. Frank Baum? And Lewis Carroll? So if anything, cartoons began from books, if you have to be real picky about it. We're really kids at heart. I know I am. And I never want to outgrow that part of me.

Who could forget In The News With Christopher Glenn on CBS every top-of-the-hour? That's where The Bugs Bunny / Road Runner Show had its home before ABC got it. Man, bowls of Trix and Saturday mornings. What fun times.

Oh, how I miss SchoolHouse Rock (and I missed that TV show when it'd been on a couple of weeks ago. Glad to see "Conjunction Junction" took the top spot, but "Lolly's Adverb Store" and "Interjections!" were my favorites. They all were great, and totally made history, math, science and English fun.

Not like "Rocky & Bullwinkle" or "The Flinstones"? Shame! Then again, I'm not a fan of "Scooby-Doo," so it's all good.

Sky King. That dates me. And the Buster Brown Show. Those were my two. But I never was a big TV fan. If something called me away from the show, I'd do it in a heartbeat. Outside. Read. Go somewhere. So I guess I was never really hooked.

Fun to read about the shows others watched. Ready for this? I've never seen Scooby Doo, Care Bears, The Dukes of Hazzard, Never even heard of Beany and Cecil. Maybe I had a stunted childhood.